The last episode of the current season! Pilar talks about what she's gained from taking part in previous NaNoWriMo s  and encourages anyone who's been thinking of writing a novel to try it too. What is NaNoWriMo https://nanowrimo.org/ Community aspect You commit for a month, that might be easier You discover the story I learned to sit and write - at least to sit and start Learn what works, what doesn't Helps you to talk about writing without saying you're a writer Why Pilar is pausing her novel writing and this podcast. If you're looking for podcast help, get in touch via www.pilarwrites.com    

Word Maze - what I'm learning about writing

WM36 Why You Should Take Part in NaNoWriMo (and why I'm pausing this show)

In today's episode, Pilar talks about: Why she's stuck. How the story's changed once she got writing, and how the idea can develop. What's she learned from Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman What's she's incorporated from Scott King's Story Pitch Here's the link to exporting synopses from Scrivener https://www.scrivenervirgin.com/2018/05/file-compile-export-synopsis/ She also mentions Austin Kleon's clarification of what he means by Show Your Work, in his interview in the What You Will Learn podcast. You can find her Trello board here https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast and you can get in touch with her through www.pilarwrites.com  

WM35 You Create When You Start Writing

Pilar has realised that all her character was doing was living in the past, but she has a couple of things she's going to try to make the character more active. Following feedback from her writing coach, she now needs to almost go back to the drawing board, but this presents plenty of opportunities to make the piece richer. Plus: Thinking Remote: Inspiration for leaders of distributed teams is now out in audiobook format.

WM34 Making a Character Active

You'd think it's obvious, but it's taken Pilar quite a while to realise the main difference between writing a non-fiction book and writing a novel.  Pilar recommends Anne Janzer’s excellent book on writing non-fiction, "Writing to Be Understood: What Works and Why".  A little bit of progress on Pilar's own editing the novel.  Check out the Trello board for book recommendations https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast and Pilar's website for more info www.pilarwrites.com  

WM33 Writing Fiction vs Writing Non-Fiction

Why do we write? I struggled so much during the re-write that I almost threw it all away and gave up this "I want to write fiction" thing. Why I didn't: I hate dropping stuff before giving it a proper go - that's why I went to drama school I'm learning a lot I know that what I'm doing is hard, so if I get through it, or almost there, it will be amazing I'm paying for the process! I still don't know why we write / create art 2. Really glad I put the work in, because apparently, the writing has improved. Now the problem is the story, but that's ok, because that's fun. Now I've gone back to previous writing and seen how much MORE rewriting I need to do... Still hard, I need to find the truth! Which means spending more time developing the relationship between Paula and Miguel- but always with that thread of suspense-is this a good thing to be happening? I don't want to write a love story... 3. The new opening, bringing the sounds to life; the sound routines, the breaking of them; the sounds from her neighbours Description through point of view. If you are also struggling with writing description that is relevant and reveals character, check out Episode 14.5 from Writing Excuses: Viewpoint as Worldbuilding 4. Twitter rocks- I needed the word for "shutters", tweeted, and got some options with minutes.  

WM32 Why Do We Write?

Pilar updates listeners on her writing retreat and how it's difficult to explain to people who don't write that writing is not driven by inspiration. She shares her struggle with technique and the bad writing habits she's discovered. This episode's wisdom is on using dialogue as exposition, borrowed from Into the Woods by John Yorke. For book recommendations: https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast And to find out more about me and get in touch: www.pilarwrites.com  

WM31 Do Not Wait for Inspiration, Bad Habits and Dialogue

I've finally received some feedback, at a micro and macro level. Lots to think about regarding character, supporting characters and the level of trauma the character is carrying with her at the beginning of the story, and what's triggered by the inciting incident. I recommend episode 456 of the Helping Writers become Authors podcast. https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/podcasts/ For book recommendations: https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast And to find out more about me and get in touch: www.pilarwrites.com      

WM30 Working through Feedback

Today I share how I'm struggled to write a scene which was hard for the character to go through.  The writing journal has been very useful in identifying where I need to pay attention to next in the story. How shall I incorporate all the subplots into the ending?   Check out all the books I talk about in my Trello board https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast And get in touch through www.pilarwrites.com  

WM29 Not Writer's Block but Writer's Discomfort

Having never "journaled" before, Pilar has started a writing journal to help her identify the bits that need fixing. She came across this idea when listening to the podcast How do you write? with Rachel Herron   Connect with Pilar over at www.pilarwrites.com For more book recommendations, check out Pilar's Trello board for this show: https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast

WM28 Discovering a story through journaling

Pilar has started working with a coach, and so now the hard work begins! She talks about how she's made some changes after considering the character's point of view.  Recommended book: On Editing. How to edit your novel the professional way by Helen Corner-Bryant and Kathryn Price (again!) For more book recommendations, check out https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast And connect with Pilar over at www.pilarwrites.com or @PilarWrites on twitter

WM27 Editing for Point of View

In this episode, Pilar talks about how she's working on the structure of her novel and the holes she's identified.  She recommends the book On Editing. How to edit your novel the professional way by Helen Corner-Bryant and Kathryn Price For more books, check out the Trello board https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast And to check out Pilar's books and other podcasts, head over to www.pilarwrites.com 

WM26 Finding the holes in the story

I'm back with Season 3 - after a month of struggling to build the story for the current novel, I've dug out a piece from a year ago and decided to work on that instead, hopefully with an editor... In this episode, Pilar talks about her fiction plans, recommends Being a Writer by Dorothea Brander (again!) and she refers to Neil Gaiman's class in Masterclass.com You can check out other book recommendations over at her Trello board https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast Connect with Pilar over at pilarwrites.com @pilarwrites on Twitter and check out her non-fiction "Hi I'm Here for a Recording. The ordinary life of a voiceover artist."

WM25 One Piece at a Time

In this episode, Pilar reflects on something she read in Becoming a Writer about paying attention to the kind of style you like writing in. She comes back to the lack of need of describing a character's physical appearance, after listening to episode 154 of the Bestselling Experiment podcast, with guest Mark Billingham.  Finally, she shares what she's learned from working with a copy editor for the first time, on her non-fiction co-authored book Thinking Remote. And she's finally updating the Word Maze website: www.wordmaze.cafe

WM24 How do you like to write?

In today's episode: Pilar shares how to get into the habit of writing, and how to be aware of the context that helps you to do your best writing. Advice from Becoming a Writer by Dorothea Brand She's heard some wonderful advice over at the Story Grid podcast on how to pick up a book you're writing after being away from it for a while.  Finally, Pilar shares what she liked stylistically from Nick Hornby's 'Juliet, Naked'. (By the way, she thought she'd written a blog post on it, but she hasn't!) At the end of the show, you can find out other podcast Pilar hosts and the books she's written.  Join Pilar over at www.pilarwrites.com Check out the Trello board with Book Recommendations here: https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-board-on-writing-for-word-maze-podcast Recommended episode from The Story Grid Podcast: How to Finish Your Book  https://storygrid.simplecast.fm/6400c9bb  

WM23 Picking Up Writing Mid Novel

Another short episode: Pilar mentions a device she quite liked from Duel en Ville How she's started working with an editor through reedsy.com She recommends Nick Hornby's novel 'Juliet Naked'. Link to books on writing:https://trello.com/b/3LUWiqsc/pilars-nanowrimo2018-learning-and-podcasting-board Pilar's site: https://pilarwrites.com/ The book Pilar and Maya are working on: Thinking Remote, inspiration for leaders of distributed teams  

WM22 Borrowing from a TV series and working with a copy editor

The second season of Word Maze is all about writing fiction. Join Pilar during NaNoWriMo. Writing, struggling, reading (favourite mode of procrastination) and podcasting her journey. Happy 50k if you're also Nanoing!